By John Oppong-Otoo, Food Safety Officer at AU-IBAR and Hakim Mufumbiro, Regional Coordinator CCAFRICA Nineteen Member States of the African Union (AU) (Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Guinea Equatorial, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo) met between 4 and 6 July 2022 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, as part of an initiative to enhance Codex work management within the Member States on the continent. The regional workshop [...]

A live event held online for Codex Members and Observers on 29 July 2022 provided the first details of what the 45th Codex Alimentarius Commission will look like as a physical session scheduled for Rome beginning 21 November. In opening remarks, the Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Steve Wearne, United Kingdom, said “we have to continue to adapt and continue to address new challenges … and uppermost in my mind is the need to maintain the level of participation we’ve [...]

On 19 and 21 July, El Salvador and Guatemala celebrated the launch of the group Codex Trust Fund project “Food safety and the Codex Alimentarius: impact on productivity and public health in El Salvador and Guatemala.” The launch took place in the presence of the Minister for the Economy (MINEC) and President of the National Quality Council, María Luisa Hayem Brevé, the Director of the Salvadoran Agency for Technical Regulation (OSARTEC), Zaida Guzmán, Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt, and Vice President [...]

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), organized a Regional Meeting on Food Safety Regulation Convergence from 18 to 22 July 2022 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The meeting was attended by Codex Contact Point Officers, National Plant Health Protection Officers, Chief Veterinary Officers, Private Sector Representatives and other experts from fifteen ECOWAS Member States (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote [...]

The Avocado Packing Company S.A.C. of the Mission South & Central America group celebrated "World Food Safety Day" this year with the motto: "Safe food, better health". Celebrations consisted of sending different flyers to company staff, as well as inviting staff to participate in the "World of Safety" game. This consisted of answering questions related to food safety to advance in the game. Notebooks and pens were given out as prizes for correct answers. The questions were prepared according to the [...]

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) together with national food safety bodies across Europe highlighted their joint communication campaign #EUChooseSafeFood for World Food Safety Day 2022. The focus was to inspire Europeans to make food choices with confidence by raising awareness about the science behind food safety.  The partners also marked World Food Safety Day by  recognising the efforts of food safety actors to safeguard consumer health every day of the year. Among EFSA’s activities were: Cross-promotion with international partners - coordinating [...]

A live event will take place for all Codex Members and Observers on Friday 29 July 2022 from 12:00 to 13:00 CEST via Zoom. With interpretation in six languages, all those wishing to learn more about the arrangements for the 45th session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC45) will be able to hear directly from the Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the Codex Secretary about the plans for the return to a physical session at FAO, Rome, Italy [...]

By Maryann Kindiki Codex Contact Point, Kenya (pictured left) The Codex Contact Point in Kenya in collaboration with the FAO Country Office held a national food safety workshop in Nairobi, Kenya on 20 July 2022 with the objective of building a solid collaboration between public and private sector towards achieving food safety at national level. The workshop was graced by the presence of FAO Country Representative for Kenya, Carla Mucavi (pictured second left). The engagements at the workshop were through panel discussions [...]

LSG Group celebrated World Food Safety Day with special events happening at LSG Sky Chefs facilities around the world. Many of the company’s employees joined in the celebration. Together, they not only created awareness for food safety but also showed their commitment. As a quality and technology leader in airline catering, food safety is an integral part of the LSG Group’s business. “It is only logical that we shine a spotlight on this highly important topic and celebrate World Food [...]

The new AMR Codex Texts (ACT) project “Implementation of Codex standards to support containment and reduction of foodborne antimicrobial resistance” now has a national project coordinator in Pakistan to lead activities in the country, Dr. Farooq Tahir. “Pakistan is a country of about 220 million people and has an agro livestock-based economy, where 40 percent of the population is directly or indirectly engaged with livestock farming.  Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is an emerging public health challenge, not only globally but also locally, with [...]